System and method for displaying published electronic documents

ABSTRACT

A system and method that displays published electronic documents including an electronic periodical database that stores electronic files representing a plurality of electronic documents and a plurality of corresponding published issues to each of the plurality of electronic documents, a electronic periodical display controller that displays a graphic substrate upon which the electronic documents and corresponding published issues are arranged, a user input controller that receives user input to manipulate the graphic substrate to control a zooming function and a panning function, and associates input user information with a specific one of the plurality of electronic published issues, and a user input database that saves the input user information associated with the specific electronic published issue, and displays the stored input user information within the graphic substrate associated with the specific one of the plurality of electronic published issues of the plurality of electronic documents.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention generally relates to a system and method fordisplaying published electronic documents on a scalable tiled graphiccomposite document rendering that arranges the electronic documents fordisplay based on predetermined configurations and user input displaymanipulations. Users may also input information associated with aparticular electronic document publication for display to other users orto a selected group of users.

2. Description of the Related Art

The World Wide Web has made access to online publications of printeddocuments much easier via web browser interfaces that display anelectronic document publication in hypertext markup language (HTML), ina graphic image file format, combination of both, or other multi-mediaformats. Typically, a user navigates to a specific publication's website to view the contents of the latest issue of that publisher'spublication. Usually a publisher will provide access for users to viewback issues of the publication through an archival portal or database.

However, a user has not been able to view a number of publications fromdifferent publishers in a single displayed view, to simultaneouslysearch a number publications from different publishers and retrievethose results in a single displayed view, to manipulate a graphicalsubstrate that displays a mashup of multimedia files corresponding to anumber of different electronic document publications and past issues ofthose electronic document publications, and enable users to leave textannotations and ratings with respect to an electronic documentpublication, the specific issue of an electronic document publication ora specific location within a specific issue of an electronic documentpublication.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In view of the foregoing and other exemplary problems, drawbacks, anddisadvantages of the conventional methods and structures, a purpose ofthe exemplary aspects of the present invention is to provide a systemand method for displaying a number of published electronic documents andperiodicals, and their corresponding published or corresponding issueson a graphic substrate that can be manipulated by a user.

An exemplary aspect of the present invention includes a system thatdisplays published electronic documents including an electronicperiodical database that stores electronic files representing aplurality of electronic documents and a plurality of correspondingpublished issues to each of the plurality of electronic documents, aelectronic periodical display controller that displays a graphicsubstrate upon which the plurality of electronic documents and theplurality of corresponding published issues retrieved from theelectronic periodical database are arranged, and a user input controllerthat receives user input to manipulate the graphic substrate to controla zooming function and a panning function that displays the plurality ofelectronic documents and published issues within the graphic substrate,and associates input user information with a specific one of theplurality of electronic published issues of the plurality of electronicdocuments.

Another exemplary aspect of the present invention includes wherein thearranged electronic documents displayed within the graphic substrate arearranged by at least one from the group including a general topic ofeach of the electronic documents, user subscription information to aperiodical, a user's organization, and a predetermined arrangementconfiguration.

Another exemplary aspect of the present invention includes wherein theelectronic documents and corresponding published issues are electronicfiles of at least one from the group including digitized image files,digital document files, animated graphic files, application programfiles, audio files, video files, and composite multimedia files.

Another exemplary aspect of the present invention includes wherein theuser input controller receives a user selection function applied to aspecific issue of the plurality of corresponding published issues of theplurality of electronic documents that causes a display of additionalinformation of the specific issue.

Another exemplary aspect of the present invention includes wherein thedisplay of additional information includes at least one from the groupincluding displaying a higher resolution document rendering of thespecific issue, displaying a table of contents of the specific issue,and displaying previously un-displayed content of the specific issue.

Another exemplary aspect of the present invention includes wherein theuser input controller receives a user selection function applied to anelectronic periodical that causes a display of a previously un-displayedcorresponding published issue.

Another exemplary aspect of the present invention includes a user inputdatabase that saves the input user information from the user inputcontroller associated with the specific one of the plurality ofelectronic published issues of the plurality of electronic documents,and displays on the graphic substrate the stored input user informationwithin the graphic substrate associated with the specific one of theplurality of electronic published issues of the plurality of electronicdocuments.

Another exemplary aspect of the present invention includes wherein thedisplay of additionally information includes at least one from the groupincluding displaying a higher resolution document rendering of thecorresponding published issue, displaying a table of contents of thecorresponding published issue, and displaying previously un-displayedcontent of the corresponding published issue.

Another exemplary aspect of the present invention includes wherein thepanning function applied to the graphic substrate causes a display ofadditional electronic documents and corresponding published issuespreviously un-displayed in the graphic substrate.

Another exemplary aspect of the present invention includes wherein thezooming function applied to the graphic substrate one of displays one ofadditional electronic documents and corresponding published issuespreviously un-displayed in the graphic substrate, and removes fromdisplaying some of the plurality of electronic documents and theplurality of corresponding published issues previously displayed in thegraphic substrate.

Another exemplary aspect of the present invention includes wherein theuser information includes one from the group including a date and timeindicator, a text message, an indication of an originating author, anindication of one of a reviewer and a reviewer text message, a ratingindication, an authorized reviewing group designation.

Another exemplary aspect of the present invention includes wherein theuser information is displayed within the graphic substrate andassociated with the specific one of the plurality of electronicpublished issues of the plurality of electronic documents.

Another exemplary aspect of the present invention includes wherein theuser information is displayed within the graphic substrate andassociated with one of a specific location and a specific feature withinthe specific one of the plurality of electronic published issues of theplurality of electronic documents.

Another exemplary aspect of the present invention includes wherein theuser information is displayed based on the authorized reviewing groupdesignation that limits the display of the user information tonon-designated users.

Another exemplary aspect of the present invention includes furtherincluding a publication issue selection function that responds to theuser input by displaying in the graphic substrate all of the displayedplurality of corresponding published issues corresponding to a same userselected publication time period.

Another exemplary aspect of the present invention includes wherein thegraphic substrate further includes a scalable graphic tiled compositedocument rendering that displays information output from the electronicperiodical display controller corresponding to the plurality ofelectronic documents and the plurality of corresponding published issuesbased on a value of the zooming function and value of the panningfunction.

Another exemplary aspect of the present invention includes wherein theelectronic periodical database, the electronic periodical displaycontroller, and the user input database is remotely disposed from alocation where a user inputs the user input.

Another exemplary aspect of the present invention includes a system fordisplaying published electronic documents including a electronicperiodical display controller that displays a graphic substrate uponwhich a plurality of electronic documents and a plurality ofcorresponding published issues to each of the plurality of electronicdocuments are arranged, and a user input controller that receives userinput to manipulate the graphic substrate to control a zooming functionand a panning function that displays the plurality of electronicdocuments and published issues within the graphic substrate, andassociates input user information with a specific one of the pluralityof electronic published issues of the plurality of electronic documents.

Another exemplary aspect of the present invention includes an electronicperiodical database that stores electronic files representing theplurality of electronic documents and the plurality of correspondingpublished issues to each of the plurality of electronic documents.

Another exemplary aspect of the present invention includes a user inputdatabase that saves the input user information from the user inputcontroller associated with the specific one of the plurality ofelectronic published issues of the plurality of electronic documents,and displays on the graphic substrate the stored input user informationwithin the graphic substrate associated with the specific one of theplurality of electronic published issues of the plurality of electronicdocuments.

Another exemplary aspect of the present invention includes displaying ascalable graphic tiled graphic substrate upon which a plurality ofelectronic documents and a plurality of corresponding published issuesto each of the plurality of electronic documents are arranged, andcontrolling the graphic substrate to manipulate the display of theplurality of electronic documents and published issues by a zoomingfunction, a panning function and a selection function.

Another exemplary aspect of the present invention includes inputtinguser information to be associated with a specific one of the pluralityof electronic published issues of the plurality of electronic documents,storing the user information in a user input database, displaying thestored user input within the graphic substrate associated with thespecific one of the plurality of electronic published issues of theplurality of electronic documents on the graphic substrate.

Another exemplary aspect of the present invention includes wherein thedisplaying further includes displaying a composite document renderingthat displays information regarding the plurality of electronicdocuments and the plurality of corresponding published issuescorresponding to a value of the zooming function and value of thepanning function.

Another exemplary aspect of the present invention includes receivinguser input from a remotely disposed location used for the controllingthe graphic substrate to manipulate the display of the plurality ofelectronic documents and published issues.

Another exemplary aspect of the present invention includes aprogrammable storage medium tangibly embodying a program ofmachine-readable instructions executable by a digital processingapparatus to perform operations supporting a method of displayingpublished electronic documents, the operations including displaying ascalable tiled graphic substrate upon which a plurality of electronicdocuments and a plurality of corresponding published issues to each ofthe plurality of electronic documents are arranged, and controlling thegraphic substrate to manipulate the display of the plurality ofelectronic documents and published issues by a zooming function, apanning function and a selection function, receiving input to manipulatethe graphic substrate display of the plurality of electronic documentsand published issues by a zooming function, a panning function and aselection function, inputting user information to be associated with aspecific one of the plurality of electronic published issues of theplurality of electronic documents, storing the user information in auser input database, and displaying the stored user input within thegraphic substrate associated with the specific one of the plurality ofelectronic published issues of the plurality of electronic documents onthe graphic substrate.

With its unique and novel features, the present invention provides amethod and system for requesting help which may eliminate the need for ahelp-desk person, and may, therefore, provide significant cost savingsto an organization.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The foregoing and other exemplary purposes, aspects and advantages willbe better understood from the following detailed description of anexemplary embodiment of the invention with reference to the drawings, inwhich:

FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of the system that displayspublished electronic documents, according to an exemplary aspect of thepresent invention;

FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of the system that displayspublished electronic documents having a scrolling function applied tothe display, according to an exemplary aspect of the present invention;

FIG. 3 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of the system that displayspublished electronic documents having a zooming function applied to thedisplay, according to an exemplary aspect of the present invention;

FIG. 4A illustrates an exemplary embodiment of the system that displayspublished electronic documents further illustrating a zooming functionto display a previous published electronic documents according to anexemplary aspect of the present invention;

FIG. 4B illustrates an exemplary embodiment of the system that displayspublished electronic documents further illustrating an alternate zoomingfunction to display previous published electronic documents, accordingto an exemplary aspect of the present invention;

FIG. 5 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of the system that displayspublished electronic documents further illustrating the detailed zoomingfunction to display information from a table of contents, according toan exemplary aspect of the present invention;

FIG. 6 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of the system that displayspublished electronic documents further illustrating a further detailedzooming function to display content of a publication, according to anexemplary aspect of the present invention;

FIG. 7 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of the system that displayspublished electronic documents further illustrating an alternate displayof content of a publication, according to an exemplary aspect of thepresent invention;

FIG. 8A illustrates an exemplary embodiment of the system that displayspublished electronic documents having a user tagging function applied toelectronic periodical, according to an exemplary aspect of the presentinvention;

FIG. 8B illustrates an exemplary embodiment of the system that displayspublished electronic documents having a user tagging functionalternately applied to specific contents of the electronic periodical,according to an exemplary aspect of the present invention; and

FIG. 9 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of the system that displayspublished electronic documents having a category arrangement feature forthe electronic documents and a previous issue date selecting function,according to an exemplary aspect of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

Applicant refers to electronic document publications in this disclosureof the invention as being either electronic renderings of periodicalpublications and documents typically intended for printed distribution,and publications or documents that are distributed completely within theelectronic or digital realm. These electronic document publications mayinclude electronic files of any one or a combination of scanned imagefiles, (e.g., bitmap, tagged image file (TIF), Joint PhotographicExperts Group (JPEG) files, etc.), digital document files, (e.g.,Portable Document File (PDF), etc.), animated graphic files, (e.g.,Graphic Interchange Format (GIF) files, Flash™ files, etc.), specificapplication files, (e.g., MS Word™, format files, WordPerfect™ formatfiles, etc.), embedded video (Moving Picture Experts Group (MPEG-4)files, etc.), or embedded audio (MPEG-1 Audio Layer 3 (MP3) files, WAVfiles, etc.).

Each electronic document publication generally includes a cover page, aTable of Contents page, and content which may include articles andadvertisements. The electronic document publications resemble theircounterpart print distributed publications in structure by havingdiscrete pages for the cover page, table of contents, and any articlesor advertisements, wherein the electronic document publication firstdisplays the cover page when first viewed by a user within the displaysystem of the present invention just as a customer would find it at anewsstand or a magazine rack in a retail store.

Referring now to the drawings, and more particularly to FIGS. 1-9, thereare shown exemplary embodiments of the method and structures of thepresent invention.

FIG. 1 generally illustrates a system for displaying publishedelectronic documents. A user input device 2, that may include a computeror user terminal, includes a display 4 and input devices such as akeyboard and a pointing device such as the mouse, touchpad, electronicstylus or similar coordinate input devices. User input device 2communicates user input with a user input controller 6 remotely disposedfrom the user input device 2. The user input controller 6 communicatesthe user input to an electronic periodical display controller 8 thatretrieves published electronic documents from a periodical database 10that may be displayed on the display 4 of the user input device 2 or onan alternate display device (not shown).

The user input controller 6 additionally communicates and causes tostore the user input in a user input database 12. The user input storedin the user input database 12 may include text annotations and userratings to be included with the display of an electronic documentpublication, a specific issue of an electronic document publication, ora specific location within an electronic document publication. Thisstored user input is then referenced to specific electronic documentpublications in the periodical database 10 and to specific portions orlocations of the electronic document publications in the periodicaldatabase 10 such that when a specific periodical is displayed on thedisplay 4, the electronic periodical display controller 8 retrieves thepreviously stored user input from the user input database 12 andsimultaneously displays the user input with the electronic documentpublication or at a specified location within the electronic documentpublication.

User input controller 6, electronic periodical display controller 8,periodical database 10, and user input database 12 may be remotelydisposed from the user input device 2 and/or the display 4 designated bythe dashed box 14 in FIG. 1. An example may include a user input devicecomputer 2 communicating via a network to a remotely disposed server 14that includes the electronic periodical display controller 8, the userinput controller 6, the user input database 12, and periodical database10. The electronic periodical display controller 8 may retrieve userinformation stored in the user input database 12 and electronic documentpublication data from the periodical database 10 to generate a displayon the user input device computer 2. Additionally, the electronicperiodical display controller 8, the user input controller 6 or the userinput database 12 may reside locally on a computer having a user inputdevice 2 and a display 4 as a computer program executed by thecomputer's processor that retrieves information from a periodicaldatabase 10 at a remote location to generate a graphical substrate 16 onthe display 4 that displays the retrieved electronic documents.

Electronic periodical display controller 8 generates a graphicalsubstrate 16 that is a scalable tiled graphic composite documentrendering upon which a number of electronic documents 18 are displayed.Graphical substrate 16 may be an application within a web browser, ormay be a standalone program apart from any web browser. In addition, thegraphical substrate 16 may include an application programming interface(API) that allows a graphic substrate to be navigated and manipulated bya user, causes the input and display of user information, and enablesquery and search functions. The electronic documents 18, (illustrated inFIG. 1 as a first row of electronic document publications A, Vol. X toG, Vol. X, and as a second row of electronic document publications α,Vol. X, to η, Vol. X, where volume “X” represents the most current issueof the publication), are displayed on a double row format which displaysthe electronic document publications in both a horizontal and verticaldirection.

The graphical substrate 16 is considered like a graphical electronic“canvas” that only displays the electronic document publications 18determined by the electronic periodical display controller 8 andretrieves a limited number of electronic document publication usergraphic files outside of the field of view or the visible boundary ofthe graphical substrate 16, and so that during a user panning or zoomingfunction, the display of the electronic documents may update quicklywith electronic document publications previously out of view in thedisplay but corresponding to a proximate position with respect to thedisplayed electronic document publications 18.

Electronic document publications displayed on the graphical substrate 16may include low resolution document images when a large number ofelectronic document publications are displayed within the graphicalsubstrate 16 to facilitate quick retrieval and display of documents fromperiodical database 10. As more detail is requested by the user ofparticular publications, higher resolution files are retrieved from theperiodical database 10 for display within the graphical substrate 16.Additionally, graphical substrate 16 may include hypertext markuplanguage (HTML) code in combination with the multimedia file types, forexample, JavaScript™, Flash™, and Silverlight™ applications.

The electronic periodical display controller 8 may be programmed tolimit the retrieval and display of certain high resolution filesrequested by users to encourage users to pay a subscription fee for thedisplay of those requested high resolution files or to subscribe to thatparticular publication for full access to all high resolution files ofthat particular electronic document publication.

The current electronic document publication 20, (for example,illustrated in FIG. 1 as a publication, “β”, Vol. X), is displayed withits cover page and a graphic representations of previous electronicpublished documents 22 displayed in a stackable thumbnail format underthe cover page 20. These initial document renderings of the currentelectronic periodical 20 and previous electronic documents 22 are lowerresolution graphic document renderings or files displayed in thegraphical substrate 16. Each of these display graphic documentrenderings or files are retrieved by the electronic periodical displaycontroller 8 from the periodical database 10.

The graphical substrate 16 further includes a user-controlled zoomingfeature illustrated for example by the zoom slider 24 wherein a user canchange the field of view within the graphical substrate 16 of thedisplayed electronic documents 18. Additionally, the graphical substrate16 further includes a user-controlled panning feature illustrated forexample by the panning control 26 wherein a user can scroll thegraphical substrate 16 to display additional electronic documents notpreviously displayed in the graphical substrate 16. Additionally, theuser may “grab” the graphical substrate 16 with an input device to dragthe graphical substrate 16 in a vertical and/or a horizontal direction.

Graphical substrate 16 further includes a user-controlled tag editor 28so the user is able to insert comments and/or rating information on aspecific electronic document publication, a specific issue of electronicdocument publication, or at a specific location with an electronicdocument publication. Graphical substrate 16 further includes a searchfeature 29 wherein a user may enter a string of text to be searchedwithin a specific electronic document publication, a group of electronicdocument publications or a specific category of electronic documentpublications.

User input device 2 includes a coordinate input or pointing device, asmentioned above, that may correspond to a graphically displayed cursor30, as shown in FIG. 1, for selecting electronic document publicationsand manipulating the display of the electronic document publications ingraphical substrate 16.

FIG. 2 illustrates an embodiment of the present invention where the userinput device 2 controls a panning function of electronic documentpublications 18 in the graphical substrate 16. This panning feature maybe controlled by a pointing device on the user input device 2 thatcontrols cursor 30 to select a panning direction of the panning functioncontrol 26, or predetermined keys on a keyboard of the user input device2, (for example, arrow, page-up or page-down keys). FIG. 2 illustratescursor 30 selecting a right direction panning function that scrolls theelectronic document publications 18 in a leftward direction. Asmentioned previously, the user may also “grab” the graphical substrate“canvas” to drag it in any direction to change the field of view. Atouch screen input device may also be used to enable a user to pinch,zoom and manipulate the graphical substrate 16 as well as a mouse inputdevice that enables a user to drag a cursor over the graphical substrate16.

FIG. 3 illustrates embodiment of the present invention where the userinput device two controls a zooming function of electronic documentpublications 18 in the graphical substrate 16. This zooming feature maybe controlled by a pointing device on the user input device 2 thatcontrols cursor 30 to select a zooming factor of the zooming functioncontrol 24, or predetermined keys or inputs on the user input device 2,(for example, a scroll wheel on a coordinate input mouse). FIG. 3illustrates a zooming slider being moved in the right direction from afirst to a second position that zooms in to effectively reduce thenumber of electronic document publications displayed in the graphicalsubstrate 16. For example, the displayed electronic documentpublications after zooming function as applied to the graphicalsubstrate 16 only display publication G, Vol. X, to publication I, Vol.X.

The following FIGS. 4A and 4B illustrate two alternative displayoutcomes from a further zooming function as shown being selected in FIG.3. For example, FIG. 3 illustrates cursor 30 selecting, (designated bythe bolded outline of publication “H”), to further zoom in on, i.e.,retrieve additional information from publication “H.”

FIG. 4A illustrates a first display option after selecting publication“H” from FIG. 3, wherein the previous electronic document publicationissue 22, (Vol. X−1), is displayed on top of the electronic documentpublications for further review. The previously displayed most currentissue, Vol. X, for example, may cycle to the back of the “stack” ofelectronic document publications.

FIG. 4B illustrates a second display option after selecting publication“H” from FIG. 3, wherein the previous electronic document publicationissue 22, (Vol. X−1), is displayed in the center of the graphicalsubstrate 16 for further review, while the most current electronicdocument publication issue 20, (Vol. X), is displayed to the left, andthe next previous electronic document publication issue 22 b, (Vol.X−2), is displayed to the right. This display may be considered an“unstacking” of the thumbnail-type stacked graphic representations ofelectronic document publications in FIG. 3 with the selected issue beingcentrally located.

FIG. 4A illustrates the cursor 30 selecting publication “H” Vol. X−1,and either of the above alternative display options may continue in likefashion to display either the cover page of the next previous electronicdocument publication issue 22 b, or to unstack the thumbnail-typestacked graphic representations of the electronic document publicationsas shown in FIG. 4B.

FIG. 4B illustrates the cursor 30 selecting the “folded” corner portionof the previous electronic document publication 22. This selection bythe user input device 2, further zooms, i.e., displays more detailedinformation with respect to the selected previous electronic documentpublication 22. For example, FIG. 5 displays the Table of Contents pageof the previous electronic document publication 22, wherein a user viathe user input device 2 may select a specific topic or article from theTable of Contents. FIG. 5 illustrates the user input device 2controlling cursor 30 to select the fourth listing on the Table ofContents, “Article D p. 108.”

Based on the user's selection of the article from the Table of Contents,FIG. 6 displays the first page 32 of the selected article. FIG. 6illustrates the cursor 30 selecting the “folded” corner portion of thefirst page of the selected article 32 to display subsequent pages of theselected article 32.

FIG. 7 illustrates the outcome of displaying subsequent pages of theselected article 32 such that previous pages 36 before the selectedarticle 32 are displayed to the left of the first page of the article32, and subsequent pages 34 of the selected article 32 are displayed tothe right of the first page of the article 32. These contiguousdisplayed pages may be in a horizontal display, (as shown), or avertical display configuration, and may be manipulated by the user inputdevice 2 with the zoom 24 and pan 26 control functions as previouslydescribed.

An additional feature of the present invention is the ability of a uservia the user input device 2, to enter comments and/or rating informationto an electronic document publication, a specific issue of electronicdocument publication, and/or a specific location with an electronicdocument publication by a tag insertion function, as shown in thegraphical substrate 16 by the selected icon 28. The tag insertioncontrol function 28 may include an API executed within the graphicalsubstrate 16 and controlled by the electronic periodical displaycontroller 8.

The user may use the user input device 2 to select an electronicdocument publication, a specific issue of an electronic documentpublication, or a specific location within an electronic documentpublication to insert a text message or a rating indication. A ratingindication may include a graphical representation of a scale thatindicates a user's opinion as to the relevance, quality, helpfulness orany other quality associated with an electronic document publication.This feature of the present invention may be selected by the user inputdevice 2 represented by the cursor 30 in FIG. 7 selecting the taginsertion control function 28 that opens a dialog box, (not shown), toenter text or a rating and prompt the user to indicate on whatelectronic document publication, or at what location on the electronicdocument publication should the user entered text or rating tag beattached.

FIG. 8A illustrates a number of the user-entered tags 38 a-38 e.Annotation-style text tags 38 a-38 c are located on previous electronicperiodical 22, and 38 d on next previous electronic periodical 22 b.Each of these text tags may include comments by the user, the time anddate the comments were entered, and an indication of the identity of theauthor of the tag, for example the initials, user attached audio andvideo files, and user attached documents. Rating-style tag 38 e locatedon next previous electronic periodical 22 b indicates a three of a fivestar rating and the time and date the rating was entered and anindication of the identity of the author of the rating. Each of thesetags may be further linked to additional tags or specific locationswithin the electronic document publication. For example, user inputdevice 2 illustrates a control of cursor 30 selecting tag 38 c in FIG.8A. FIG. 8B illustrates the display on the graphical substrate 16 of alinked tag 38 g referenced by the selected tag 38 c. FIG. 8Badditionally illustrates the capacity of user input tags to beassociated with a specific article, for example, tag 38 f associatedwith “Article D,” and a specific location within an article, forexample, tag 38 g.

As with the content of electronic document publications, the content ofthe user input tags and ratings may be searched by the search fieldfunction 29 on the basis of the content of the tag, the time and date ofthe tag, the author of the tag, a specific electronic documentpublication or specific issue of an electronic document publication, theformat type of tag (e.g., audio or video), location of the tag within aparticular section of an electronic document, and the location of thetag within a particular section of on a page in an electronic document.

Additionally, user input tags may be designated by their author as apublic tag, viewable by all users, or may be designated as a privatetag, to be viewed by a particular person or group of users for securityor privacy purposes. The user input tags may be attached a particularelectronic document publication, the particular issue of an electronicdocument publication, at the beginning of an article of electronicdocument publication, on a specific section of an article, on a specificparagraph of an article, or at a specific location and the text orgraphic display content of an article.

FIG. 9 illustrates that the electronic periodical display controller 8may arrange the displayed electronic document publications 18 on thegraphical substrate 16 in a predetermined arrangement scheme. Forexample, business documents 40 a, technology documents 40 b, andentertainment documents 40 c may be grouped together based on thegeneral topical content of the electronic document publications. Anotherexample may include arranging particular electronic documentpublications in a manner associated with a particular retail storearrangement scheme. Another example may include arranging particularelectronic document publications to which a user has a paidsubscription. Additionally, a user may create their own arrangement bydragging specific electronic documents within various organizationalsections. Each of these above arrangements may be displayedautomatically without any user input based on a predefined arrangementscheme or a general topical arrangement as controlled by the electronicperiodical display controller 8, or electronic documents may be arrangedupon the direction of the user via the user input device 2.

This arrangement feature may also be used when a user enters text intothe search field 29 and the system retrieves a number of electronicdocuments based on the input text query so that the electronicperiodical display controller 8 arranges all of the retrieved electronicdocuments into groups based on any of the above criteria, and may alsodisplay the exact page location of the queried text in each retrievedelectronic document publication.

Additionally, electronic periodical display controller 8 may arrange theelectronic documents retrieved from a text query based upon the topic ofthe articles retrieved within an electronic document publication ratherthan the general category of the electronic document publication itself.For example, if a search query was entered with respect to the apparelindustry in Hong Kong, electronic periodical display controller 8 mayalso arrange electronic document publications having additional relatedtopics with respect to the apparel industry in other Asian Pacificnations, other non-apparel industries within Hong Kong, or the apparelindustry in China generally.

FIG. 9 additionally illustrates a periodical issue selector 42 thatenables a user to select a particular issue periodical month or date tobe displayed for each electronic document publication displayed withinthe graphical substrate 16.

In a similar manner as described above, the zooming function control 24and panning function control 26 may be operated by the user input device2 to manipulate the display of electronic document publications in eachof these predetermined arrangement-type display schemes.

With its unique and novel features, the present invention provides amethod and system for requesting help which may eliminate the need for ahelp-desk person, and may, therefore, provide significant cost savingsto an organization.

While the invention has been described in terms of one or more exemplaryembodiments, those skilled in the art will recognize that the inventioncan be practiced with modification within the spirit and scope of theappended claims. Specifically, one of ordinary skill in the art willunderstand that the drawings herein are meant to be illustrative, andthe design of the inventive assembly is not limited to that disclosedherein but may be modified within the spirit and scope of the presentinvention.

Further, Applicant's intent is to encompass the equivalents of all claimelements, and no amendment to any claim the present application shouldbe construed as a disclaimer of any interest in or right to anequivalent of any element or feature of the amended claim.

What is claimed is:
 1. A system for displaying published electronicdocuments, said system comprising: an electronic document database thatstores electronic files representing a plurality of electronicdocuments; an electronic document display controller that displays,based on topical contents of said plurality of electronic documents, agraphic substrate upon which said plurality of electronic documentsretrieved from said electronic document database is arranged; a userinput controller that receives user input to manipulate said graphicsubstrate to control a zooming function and a panning function thatdisplays said plurality of electronic documents within said graphicsubstrate, and associates input user information with a specific one ofsaid plurality of electronic documents, said input user informationcomprising annotations for a shared use of different users to bedisplayed on said graphic substrate upon which the plurality ofelectronic documents is arranged, said annotations comprisingannotations of said different users displayed on said graphic substrate;a scalable tiled graphic composite document rendering unit provided insaid graphic substrate that displays information output from saidelectronic document display controller corresponding to said pluralityof electronic documents based on a value of said zooming function and avalue of said panning function; and a periodical selector that isconfigured to enable one of the users to select a particular issueperiodical date to be displayed on said graphic substrate for each ofsaid plurality of electronic documents displayed within the graphicalsubstrate, wherein the electronic document display controller isconfigured to arrange all of said plurality of electronic documentsretrieved from said electronic document database into groups based onpredetermined criteria such that, in each of said groups, a pagelocation of a query text inputted by said one of the users is displayedin each of said plurality of electronic documents retrieved from saidelectronic document database.
 2. The system according to claim 1,wherein said arranged electronic documents displayed within said graphicsubstrate are arranged by at least one from the group comprising: ageneral topic of each of said electronic documents; user subscriptioninformation to a periodical; a user's organization; and a predeterminedarrangement configuration.
 3. The system according to claim 1, whereinsaid electronic-documents comprise electronic files of at least one fromthe group comprising: digitized image files; digital document files;animated graphic files; application program files; audio files; videofiles; and composite multimedia files.
 4. The system according to claim1, wherein said user input controller receives a user selection functionapplied to a specific issue of a plurality of corresponding publishedissues of said plurality of electronic documents that causes a displayof additional information of said specific issue.
 5. The systemaccording claim 4, wherein said display of additional informationincludes at least one from the group comprising: displaying a higherresolution document rendering of said specific issue; displaying a tableof contents of said specific issue; and displaying previouslyun-displayed content of said specific issue.
 6. The system according toclaim 1, wherein said user input controller receives a user selectionfunction applied to an electronic document that causes a display of apreviously un-displayed corresponding electronic document.
 7. The systemaccording to claim 1, further comprising: a user input database thatsaves said input user information from the user input controllerassociated with said specific one of said plurality of electronicdocuments, and displays on said graphic substrate said stored input userinformation within said graphic substrate associated with said specificone of said plurality of electronic documents.
 8. The system accordingclaim 7, wherein said display of additionally information includes atleast one from the group comprising: displaying a higher resolutiondocument rendering of said corresponding published issue; displaying atable of contents of said corresponding published issue; and displayingpreviously un-displayed content of said corresponding published issue.9. The system according to claim 1, wherein said panning functionapplied to said graphic substrate causes a display of additionalelectronic documents previously un-displayed in said graphic substrate.10. The system according to claim 1, wherein said zooming functionapplied to said graphic substrate one of displays one of additionalelectronic documents previously un-displayed in said graphic substrate,and removes from displaying some of said plurality of electronicdocuments previously displayed in said graphic substrate.
 11. The systemaccording to claim 1, wherein said user information includes one fromthe group comprising: a date and time indicator; a text message; anindication of an originating author; an indication of one of a reviewerand a reviewer text message; a rating indication; an authorizedreviewing group designation; an audio file; a video file; and anelectronic document file.
 12. The system according to claim 11, whereinsaid user information is displayed within said graphic substrate andassociated with said specific one of said plurality of electronicdocuments.
 13. The system according to claim 12, wherein said userinformation is displayed within said graphic substrate and associatedwith one of a specific location and a specific feature within saidspecific one of said plurality of electronic documents.
 14. The systemaccording to claim 12, wherein said user information is displayed basedon said authorized reviewing group designation that limits the displayof said user information to non-designated users.
 15. The systemaccording to claim 1, further comprising: a document selection functionthat responds to said user input by displaying in said graphic substrateall of said plurality of electronic documents corresponding to a sameuser selected time period.
 16. The system according to claim 1, whereinsaid electronic document database, said electronic document displaycontroller, and said user input database are remotely disposed from alocation where a user inputs said user input.
 17. The system accordingto claim 1, wherein said annotations of said different users aresimultaneously displayed on said graphic substrate, and wherein saidannotations of said different users are displayed on the plurality ofelectronic documents in said graphic substrate.
 18. The system accordingto claim 1, wherein said annotations of said different users aredisplayed on said specific one of the plurality of electronic documentsin said graphic substrate, and wherein said annotations of saiddifferent users are simultaneously displayed on a same screen of saidgraphic substrate.
 19. A system for displaying published electronicdocuments, said system comprising: an electronic document displaycontroller that displays a graphic substrate upon which a plurality ofelectronic documents is arranged; a user input controller that receivesuser input to manipulate said graphic substrate to control a zoomingfunction and a panning function that displays, based on topical contentsof said plurality of electronic documents, said plurality of electronicdocuments within said graphic substrate, and associates input userinformation with a specific one of said plurality of electronicdocuments, said input user information comprising annotations for ashared use of different users to be displayed on said graphic substrateupon which the plurality of electronic documents is arranged, saidannotations comprising annotations of said different users displayed onsaid graphic substrate; a scalable tiled graphic composite documentrendering unit provided in said graphic substrate that displaysinformation output from said electronic document display controllercorresponding to said plurality of electronic documents based on a valueof said zooming function and a value of said panning function; and aperiodical selector that is configured to enable one of the users toselect a particular issue periodical date to be displayed on saidgraphic substrate for each of said plurality of electronic documentsdisplayed within the graphical substrate, wherein the electronicdocument display controller is configured to arrange all of saidplurality of electronic documents retrieved from an electronic documentdatabase into groups based on predetermined criteria such that, in eachof said groups, a page location of a query text inputted by said one ofthe users is displayed in each of said plurality of electronic documentsretrieved from said electronic document database.
 20. The systemaccording to claim 19, further comprising: an electronic documentdatabase that stores electronic files representing said plurality ofelectronic documents.
 21. The system according to claim 19, furthercomprising: a user input database that saves said input user informationfrom the user input controller associated with said specific one of saidplurality of electronic documents, and displays on said graphicsubstrate said stored input user information within said graphicsubstrate associated with said specific one of said plurality ofelectronic documents.
 22. A method of displaying published electronicdocuments, said method comprising: displaying a scalable graphic tiledgraphic substrate, based on topical contents of said plurality ofelectronic documents, upon which a plurality of electronic documents isarranged; controlling said graphic substrate to manipulate said displayof said plurality of electronic documents by a zooming function, apanning function and a selection function; inputting user information tobe associated with a specific one of said plurality of electronicdocuments, said user information comprising annotations for a shared useof different users, said annotations comprising annotations of saiddifferent users displayed on said graphic substrate; displaying saidstored user information within said graphic substrate associated withsaid specific one of said plurality of electronic documents on saidgraphic substrate upon which the plurality of electronic documents isarranged; displaying a composite document rendering that displaysinformation regarding said plurality of electronic documentscorresponding to a value of said zooming function and a value of saidpanning function; and enabling one of the users to select a particularissue periodical date to be displayed on said graphic substrate for eachof said plurality of electronic documents displayed within the graphicalsubstrate, wherein said displaying the scalable graphic tiled graphicsubstrate includes arranging all of said plurality of electronicdocuments retrieved from an electronic document database into groupsbased on predetermined criteria such that, in each of said groups, apage location of a query text inputted by said one of the users isdisplayed in each of said plurality of electronic documents retrievedfrom said electronic document database.
 23. The method of displayingaccording to claim 22, further comprising: storing said user informationin a user input database.
 24. The method of displaying according toclaim 22, further comprising: receiving user input from a remotelydisposed location used for said controlling said graphic substrate tomanipulate said display of said plurality of electronic documents.
 25. Anon-transitory programmable storage medium embodying, a program ofmachine-readable instructions executable by a digital processingapparatus to perform operations supporting a method of displayingpublished electronic documents, the operations comprising: displaying ascalable tiled graphic substrate, based on topical contents of saidplurality of electronic documents, upon which a plurality of electronicdocuments is arranged; controlling said graphic substrate to manipulatesaid display of said plurality of electronic documents by a zoomingfunction, a panning function and a selection function; receiving inputto manipulate said graphic substrate display of said plurality ofelectronic documents by a zooming function, a panning function and aselection function; inputting user information to be associated with aspecific one of said plurality of electronic documents, said userinformation comprising annotations for a shared use of different users,said annotations comprising annotations of said different usersdisplayed on said graphic substrate; storing said user information in auser input database; displaying said stored user information within saidgraphic substrate associated with said specific one of said plurality ofelectronic documents on said graphic substrate upon which the pluralityof electronic documents is arranged; displaying a composite documentrendering within said graphic substrate that displays informationregarding said plurality of electronic documents corresponding to avalue of said zooming function and a value of said panning function; andenabling one of the users to select a particular issue periodical dateto be displayed on said graphic substrate for each of said plurality ofelectronic documents displayed within the graphical substrate, whereinsaid displaying the scalable graphic tiled graphic substrate includesarranging all of said plurality of electronic documents retrieved froman electronic document database into groups based on predeterminedcriteria such that, in each of said groups, a page location of a querytext inputted by said one of the users is displayed in each of saidplurality of electronic documents retrieved from said electronicdocument database.